On Thursday, April 16, 2026, the Conclusion office overlooking the pitch of Utrecht’s Galgenwaard Stadium was filled with current and future tech leaders attending the Dream Festival. It was the second festival organized by NextGen Tech Leaders, following last year’s Failure Festival. The central theme was Strategic Thinking and Vision. True strategic thinking does not begin with SWOT analyses, OKRs, or roadmaps, but with the courage to step away from today’s operations and allow space for dreaming and thinking further ahead.

The theme of the Dream Festival was a natural continuation of the previous NextGen Tech Leaders community event: moving from understanding what went wrong at Failure to embracing ambition, courage, and imagination at Dream. Once again, master of ceremonies Gabriëlle Lopes set the tone with great confidence and clarity. Highly pregnant, yet calm, sharp, and full of energy, she embodied the theme perfectly. Her approach reflected the essence of leadership: not always following the beaten path, but setting a clear direction and inspiring others to move forward.

The official — and literal — kickoff was delivered by Carmen Werkhoven, a promising young talent from football club FC Utrecht. She opened the afternoon by kicking a ball that was fortunately caught flawlessly by Valentijn from our program team. A fitting start, as what top athletes need to perform applies just as well to tech leaders: ambition, discipline, and teamwork.

Next, Noha Shafik, head of technology for the partner domain at Bol.com, explored why daring to dream truly matters in times of rapid and profound change. Turning dreams into reality is not always smooth or straightforward, she emphasized. Ask for help when things become overwhelming, and above all, do not strive for perfection.

Michiel Leenaars continued with the theme of Dreaming Together, focusing on how ideas take shape collectively and how individuals and organizations position themselves within larger movements. A key takeaway was that it is possible to make an impact without relying on Big Tech, as a company or as an individual. Gabriëlle Lopes seamlessly built on this with an interactive exercise on the power of networks. As planned, it created a lively and somewhat chaotic break — which proved highly effective in sparking new connections and meaningful conversations.

The afternoon concluded with Nina Hoff, founder and CEO of the international family business byFlow. She shared the story of turning a dream into reality — originally her brother’s, and over time, also her own. What began with Nutella-shaped treats and artistic purée creations ultimately led to successful chocolate 3D printers sold worldwide — except, she joked, in the famously frugal Netherlands.

In this way, the afternoon came to a well-rounded close. The key message: we must dare to dream big, not just attempt to do so. At the same time, ambition must be taken seriously and translated into a realistic horizon to work toward. Check out the aftermovie here.

NextGen Tech Leaders was founded to connect the current and next generation of tech leaders — professionals across IT, digital, technology, product, and data. The Dream Festival once again demonstrated both the value and the clear need for such a community. Our thanks go to Conclusion for hosting this edition.

The conversations in the hallways proved to be at least as valuable as the talks themselves, which is exactly what this community is about. With the continued dedication of the NextGen Tech Leaders program team and the indispensable support of CIO Platform Nederland, we move forward. On September 17, 2026, the Breakthrough Festival will take place at KLM in Schiphol-Rijk — mark your calendar. After Failure and Dream, this is the logical next step: first learning from setbacks, then daring to dream, and finally doing the real work — breaking through and taking action.